As The Moon Watched The Sun
by Taiyou no Yume
Summary: He watched her day after day, falling more and more in love with her as the days past, but they weren't meant to be, not in this life.


**As The Moon Watched The Sun**

The first time he saw her, she was ten. She was this chubby faced, doe eyed, little girl who's emerald eyes seemed glow as she stared in wonder at the lanterns on the sky. Jack had watched her with curiosity that soon turned to shock when he saw the at least ten feet of golden blonde hair trailing behind her in a tumbling mess. She had the most enchanting smile plastered all over her face and he learned later that this was because it was her birthday.

That was the first time he felt so much pain that a single person couldn't see him.

The next day, he came back and watched as she did, what he would find out later, was her daily routine of sweeping, moping, polishing, waxing, dusting, reading, baking and a whole bunch of other weird activities, all while humming a song to herself. He laughed a little as her small ten year old body attempted to dust the top of a bookshelf and, with a flick of his staff he lifted her up a little and watched a bright smile lit up her face, making her emerald eyes shine like morning dew.

That was when he decided he always wanted to be the cause of that smile.

Two days later, he found out her name. She'd been baking another batch of her chocolate chip cookies (that Jack had been dying to taste) when a voice had called out and a figure emerged from the doorway and she smiled before hugging the figure (he later found out, after tracking her, that she came from a secret stairwell Rapunzel obviously didn't know about).

That was when he discovered the most beautiful name ever; Rapunzel.

A week later, he learned about her powers. He watched with fascination as her golden hair lit up, the glow spreading from the roots of her hair as she sang and time seemed to reverse for the woman, who she called 'mother', as her wrinkled smoothened out and her grey streaked hair turned black.

That was the day he found out that the small little girl that he'd been watching was much more powerful than she seemed.

A few months passed and soon he realized that the lady who she constantly referred to as 'mother' was just using her. He'd watched as she'd stroke her hair, kiss the top of her head, refer to her as 'flower', smile at her, but none of those actions were sincere, her endearment was not directed to her daughter but rather to her magical hair, the smiles she gave never reached her eyes and he could only watch as she kicked again and again at her daughter's already low self esteem. He watched with dread as the light died in her eyes whenever she talked with her mother and how she slowly started to sink into a nervous and shy pit. He'd never felt more helpless in his life.

That was when he decided he would protect her forever.

Weeks passed and Jack had observed how lonely Rapunzel had gotten and how much she craved a friend. And so, on her eleventh birthday, he'd placed a small green chameleon he'd found almost freezing to death in the woods on her window sill and watched as she's jumped in fright at first at the sight of the pitiful creature and watched she spent the next few weeks nursing the poor thing back to health (in secret of course, after making the mistake of showing it to her mother and in turn making her scream at her) and Jack found himself liking the girl more and more.

That was the day he decided that, yes, he would never let anything taint that beauty.

The month's came and left and he'd watched over her and as the chameleon he'd brought slowly became her best friend and how she'd confessed to Pascal (which he deduced was what she named him) that her dream all along had to been to leave the tower and see the 'floating lights'. Thus, on the night of her twelfth birthday, when she made her usual mad dash to the window sill to see the lights, he'd flown to the kingdom, and with the help of the Wind, drifted a lantern with the sun's insignia painted on it to her and he watched as she gasped then smiled so brightly that he knew it would be forever embedded into his mind.

That was the first time he'd felt his heart speed up like that.

The next year was filled with heart races (that he swore would be the re-death of him), laughter, fun and joy. And on the winter of her fourteenth birthday he decided, after a couple of days of watching her, to make it snow in her tower. Rapunzel had always longed to go out and play in the snow and if he couldn't get her out, he would bring winter inside. It was the perfect time too, her mother was out of town doing god knows what so if they made a mess it wouldn't really matter. He'd watched as she gasped in shock before immediately diving into the pile of snow, playing with it and even sculpting things out of it. He watched as she laughed and played and squealed in delight, and as he leaned against his staff, watching her with adoration, a smile unconsciously spread onto his face.

That was the day that he admitted that maybe, just maybe, he might like her.

Another year passed in the blink of an eye for the forever eighteen spirit and for her fifteenth birthday, her mother had brought back some white shells and made them into paint after her daughter had bugged her for something to do and Jack watched with a smile as she had squealed in delight and immediately began starting painting on the blank walls of her tower, instantly lighting up the room and a smile made a way onto his face.

That was the first day Jack had ever been so happy around a person who couldn't see him.

For months again he watched her as she painted and he soon discovered a pattern in her paintings; there was a wall for each season but winter was left bare and Jack was throughly confused at that before he discovered her one winter's morning, staring out the window with a brush in her hand and a furrow between her eyebrows as she studied the scene before sighing, standing up and packing her paint before sinking back into her regular routine. He'd then smiled to himself , jumped out the window and begun his project. The next day, she'd woken up to the most beautiful winter scene as frost covered ever thing and gleamed like diamonds as the sun ray's hit them. He'd watched as she'd squealed happily, dashed down the steps, almost trip over her now thirty feet of hair before picking up her paint and immediately began working on her latest piece of art. And when the painting came out beautifully with light reflecting off every drop of snow instead of the dark and gloomy paintings most people did of winter, Jack felt his heart swell.

That was the day he knew he loved her.

By her sixteenth birthday, she had begun to realize that the lanterns were in fact not stars and immediately began tracking the patterns of stars to prove her theory. He'd watched as she gave funny names to constellations she found since she didn't actually know the scientific names of the stars. For example, she called the Big Dipper the Scoop!

That was when he discovered that what he loved the most about her was not her beauty but the gleam of excitement in her eyes when something sparks her interest.

The years passed quickly and he watched as she grew up to be a beautiful and kind hearted lady, but, the day before her eighteenth birthday, he watched as she tried to ask her mother to bring her to the city to see the 'floating lights', watched as her mother shot down her dream, watched as an unknown man make his way into her tower, watched as she knocked him out, watched as she tried again to persuade her mother, watched as another fight broke out, watched as she sent her mother away (sneaky, sneaky girl), watched as she put her trust in the man, 'Flynn Rider' he called himself, watched as 'Flynn' did the one thing he never could, show her the world.

That was the day that she was snatched out of his life.

That day, he watched as Flynn tried to scare Rapunzel and trick her into giving him the prize he'd been after all along, the crown, and decided immediately that he did not like him one bit. He watched as they made their way into a secret tunnel, watched them run, watched them get trapped in a cave that was rapidly filling up with water, watched as he confessed to her about his past and how his name was really Eugene, watched as she showed him her magic hair, watched as they escape, helped them dig through the rocks as fast as possible, waited with bated breath for her to resurface, watched as her head popped out from the river, watched they set up camp and watched as she finally trusted him enough to show her the full extent of her powers.

That should've been his first sign.

The next day, he watched from the sidelines as Rapunzel's eyes lit up, brighter than he'd ever seen them, as she jumped up and down excitedly upon reaching the city, giving Flynn the widest and happiest smile he'd ever seen her show to anyone.

That was the first of many other times he'd been jealous of Flynn.

The day progressed and he watched her have the time of her life, watched as she explored the city, fascinated by everything, then, he watched as Flynn fell in love with her. Watched as he stared at her as she spun about after her hair was braided, watched as he danced with her, watched as he longed for her. Then, he watched as Flynn made her dream come true, taking her to the middle of the lake in the boat, watched as Rapunzel chased after the lanterns, watched as they fell into each other's eyes, and for the last time, he brought the lantern with the sun's insignia to her and watched as she lifted it into the sky.

That was when he wished the most to be seen by her.

Then, unable to bear it any longer, he'd flown away, back to the town square, where he saw the mosaic she had been staring at previously for the first time and gasped before setting out to prove his theory.

That was the first time he'd left her side.

He'd came back half an hour later, only to find them gone, he raced back to the tower and saw her back in her bed, looking sadly at the flag, he sat down next to her and looked at the flag before an idea hit him and he flew up to the ceiling and highlighted one of the sun's she'd unconsciously painted (he noticed many years ago but he never thought anything of it until now) in frost, making it glow slightly, before sending another snowflake down to her, resting against her cheek and making her open her eyes again (slowly though, after all he'd done this enough times over the years to make her use to it). He watched as memories flashed in her eyes as realization dawned on her features, he watched as she confronted her 'mother', watched as she fought against her for the first time in eighteen years, watched as she stormed away, and before he could do anything, watched as the woman knocked Rapunzel unconscious. He tried to help, but, as a spirit, he couldn't interfere with a mortal life too much and could only watch with horror as the woman tied Rapunzel up. Then, without thinking twice, he set out to find Eugene.

That was the day he accepted that Eugene would be able to do things for Rapunzel he never could.

He'd sent the horse to help Eugene out by laying hints and he watched as Eugene raced to the tower, watched as he climbed up the tower, never stopping and determination clear in his eyes. He'd watched as Eugene reached the top and relief was clear in his features before he saw Rapunzel tied up, watched, again unable to do anything as the woman mercilessly stabbed him, watched as Rapunzel begged and pleaded to let her save his life, even at the cost of hers, watched as Eugene refused, watched as Eugene took the shattered piece of mirror and cut off her seventy feet of hair, watched as Rapunzel cried and cried and begged him to stay, watched as he drifted away, watched as she sang the song hopelessly, watched as her teardrop miraculously saved his life, watched as Eugene came back to life, watched as they embraced, watched as the most beautiful smile spread on her face, watched as she laughed before pressing her lips against his.

That was the first time he could ignore the pain in his heart.

Years passed and he'd stayed with her though everything, watched as she got married, the happiness in her eyes when they were pronounced husband and wife, watched as she swore to grow old with Eugene by her side, watched as she had her first child, a boy, the exact replica of Flynn, watched her first beautiful baby girl being brought to the world with her bright emerald eyes and her husband's chocolate brown hair, watched her brown hair turn grey, watched as wrinkles appear on her face, watched as she attended her husband's funeral, watched as she was dying, and right then and there, with tears spilling down his face as he placed his hand on her cold skin, even though she wasn't young anymore, she was still the most beautiful girl that he'd ever seen. And as her eyes fluttered close and she drew her last breath, and he saw the ten year old girl with long, blonde hair and wide emerald eyes staring longingly out of the window.

That was the day he most hated the fact he could never die.

Three hundred years came and went, he'd had his own fair share of adventures, he'd met Jamie (and all he could think when he found out the kid could see him was why Rapunzel hadn't been able to), they'd defeated Pitch and protected the children of the world and two months after that, Manny chose a new Guardian. He'd watched as a sly smile spread across his fellow Guardians faces, watched as a figure emerged from the shadows and his heart stopped beating. Watched as the sun rays illuminated her face, showing her sun kissed skin and freckled face. He watched as her huge emerald eyes scanned him up and down as she pushed back a lock of her golden blonde hair back (that he knew without counting stretched seventy feet behind her), he watched as she held the frying pan defensively at her side, watched as she looked at him timidly and watched as her rose lips parted to form the sentence that would change his life forever.

"I'm Rapunzel."

That was the first time in many, many, many years that he felt hopeful.


End file.
